The Hockey Foundation kicks off donation drive

You might remember one of the more unique stories from last season involved Adam Sherlip, the volunteer who traveled to a remote part of India to help spread the game of hockey. If you don't recall his story, check out this edition of Preds on the Glass, which featured an interview with him.

After the jump, you can read Adam's update on where his Hockey Foundation stands today, and his request for donations as they look forward to oncoming freezing weather and another hockey season in the Himalayas (and you thought Nashville was a non-traditional hockey market?).

Greetings!

As you may or may not know, last Winter, a new project got its feet off the ground, or rather, its skates off the ice: The Hockey Foundation.  This initiative began humbly, looking to bring ice hockey to one small school in a remote part of the world.  The only way for this to be achieved was with the support of kind-hearted people with a passion for making the world a better place through sport.  One year and countless stories later, The Hockey Foundation surpassed its first-year goals and is looking to return to the place where it has the most work to do and the most lives to change...India.

Not just any part of India, though.  The Hockey Foundation is working in the remote region of Ladakh, in the Himalayan state of Jammu & Kashmir.  This region (sometimes referred to as "Little Tibet"), is one of the most unique and remote places in the world, landlocked by mountains in the winter at over 11,000ft  (3,400m), and home to Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus.  Needless to say, the opportunity to improve upon a naturally tense climate is abundant.  Since hockey can only be played in this high altitude region during the winter, this program will begin in the first week of December and continue through the end of the season.

There is a lot of work to be done in Ladakh.  Last year, we spent over a month in the region coaching players of all ages, both genders, and all religions.  The players are heavily under-equipped, need vast improvement on the fundamentals of hockey, and the region needs to work through political and religious tension to allow the game to flourish.  The Hockey Foundation laid the foundation (hence the double-meaning of the name) to improve upon these aspects, but we need your help to build upon our success.

In order to continue to "share happiness & change lives, one puck at a time", The Hockey Foundation is raising $10,000 by December 1st.  Your support through monetary donations, equipment donations, memorabilia donations (to raffle/auction), and most importantly, spreading the word, is the only way we can succeed.

To donate, please visit www.hockeyfoundation.org and use the ChipIn client (through PayPal).  Any donation will get us closer to $10,000 (or more!) by December 1, so please do what you can and pass this around to all of your contacts.

The Hockey Foundation has limited sponsorship opportunities available for organizations that believe in the ideals that the sport promotes, namely: honesty, accountability, teamwork, selflessness, toughness, integrity.  Please contact us if you feel your organization is as idealistic as we are!

If you have any questions/comments, do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you for your support!

Adam Sherlip
Executive Director
The Hockey Foundation

adam@hockeyfoundation.org